[Harp-L] B-Radical 1st Impressions

[David Fertig <drfertig@xxxxxxxxx>]

I got my B-Radical harp in A on June 9, 2010 (ordered it on June 17, 2009, invoice #98, the harp is serial# 000578.)   It came in a little red cloth draw-string bag.  

My B-Radical is at least as responsive, tight and good-sounding as the best of my customized harps and SP20s.   In my
 hands the tone's not quite as soft as a SP20, at least partially due to
 the side vents, I suppose; still soft, yet also crisp with light high 
overtones.   Whatever all that means! A tiny bit more treble-y than a SP20, I guess, and I like the combination off tonal softness and clarity.  

It's got very good mouthfeel, plays easily, 
and the construction's elegant.  The feel, for me, is important, and the
 sculptured comb-teeth and shape of the covers combine for great comfort
 in playing.  



While I normally eschew sandwich construction in harps, the "rail" of 
the reed plate here is so slight in its protrusion it's almost 
undiscernable.   The reed plates have a deep-ish groove which one might 
expect the cover 
plate's front edge to fit into, but the edge comes to the reed plate 
just beyond the groove, still short of the edge.  This is apparently by 
design, and there are no discernable leaks.




The covers' little screws go into brass
 widgets, solid with female thread in each end. One of mine is loose in 
the hole, so it can easily push out, eventually it can fall out, I 
suspect this is a manufacturing flaw, as the other one is tight.   Of 
course it all 
tightens down nicely.   


With magnification I notice the reeds bear tiny longitudinal grooves or 
ridges on one face.  Brad calls it herringbone, I called it corduroy.  
The other sides are flat.
Switching it out with my SP20 A, though, was troubling.  I may learn NOT to love my SP20s anymore!   I really like the B-Rad, and -except for a couple minor problems (one reed off-tune, and the loose widget) - it would instantly be my 1st line A.

The tuning:  one reed (blow 6, middle E) was high by a couple Hz, thus a light beating on the E octaves (hi & low), but otherwise the tuning was just fine.  

Less than a week after I e-mailed Harrison harps about the tuning, and asking how I might correct it in light of the textured reeds, I got a phone call from Brad Harrison.  I explained the other octaves are clean and that I used a good chromatic tuner to confirm my ears, and Brad offered to have me send it in for work, he also answered my query about tuning these.  As I suspected, to tune the reeds one only works the flat (not corduroy) side of the reed.  For both sides the flat side is against the plate, but I didn't wnt to take the reed off, so I lightly abraded the reed through the slot to correct the tuning, however I think I'll send it back for the loose cover-screws receiver.  

Aside from these little probs, it is, in sum, a GREAT HARP!  I have not yet played in gig or jam situation, but now that I've tuned it, I soon will.  I 
mostly play lightly worked-on SP20s, and I own only a few custom 
diatonics.   But I suspect the B-Radical may start replacing my other harps.   

I love that it's on a platform
 which was designed and built to last beyond the life of the reeds, with a
 design I find more solid and, over all, with a sound I find as good if 
not better than any other harp I own.   

To Brad and his crew, good work, 
congrats and good luck!

-Dave "brevity? Schmevity!" Fertig